Apparently, Vidal Sassoon was not only born in London, but he was also born to a Jewish family. Sadly, because the father abandoned the family, Vidal was sent to a Jewish orphanage at the age of 3.
Towards the end of World War II, when Sassoon was a teenager, he joined a group of Jewish Veterans. They worked hard to combat the growing anti-semitism in London. Just a few years later, when he was only 20 years old, Sassoon left England and journeyed to Israel. He was on hand in 1948, to help fight for Israel's independence.
"When you think of 2,000 years of being put down and suddenly you are a nation rising, it was a wonderful feeling. There were only 600,000 people defending the country against five armies, so everyone had something to do."After serving in the Israeli Defense Force for a year, Vidal headed back to England and began his next journey - to world fame as a hairdresser. However, as he became successful, Vidal continued to support the Jewish state.
In 1982 he founded the Vidal Sassoon International Center at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. It's mission is to study and analyze anti-semitism at the global level. In addition, the center supports educational and cultural projects in Israel. This week, June 14th, 2012, the Vidal Sassoon center is hosting an evening in his honor.
I thought it was interesting to learn about Vidal's connection to Israel. I was also very impressed to see the wealth of research - ranging from research papers to conference recordings - available for free on the Vidal Sassoon International Center's website.
Just like they say that "six degrees of separation" connect everyone to Kevin Bacon. I am beginning to think the same thing is true about Israel.
